Rian Johnson's Peacock Series Poker Face Is Beefing Up Its Cast
Rian Johnson has found great success and recognition in the entertainment world for his contributions to the silver screen. His rise to fame kicked off proper in 2012 via the sci-fi hit "Looper," affording him the chance to helm the endlessly controversial "Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi" in 2017 and bring his own murder mystery to the cinema in the form of "Knives Out" from 2019. At the same time, however, Johnson is no stranger to working within the confines of the small screen, and despite his remarkable prosperity at the movies in the past few years, he's not about to leave TV behind.
To date, Rian Johnson's biggest television credit stems from the widely-adored AMC hit, "Breaking Bad." He directed three episodes — "The Fly," "Fifty-One," and "Ozymandias" — and even won a Director's Guild of America award for his impressive work, which more than proved that he has what it takes to thrive in the long-form storytelling medium. Thus, the Peacock streaming service fought hard to get ahold of his latest TV venture, "Poker Face": a 10-episode mystery drama that is sure to blow audiences away (via Deadline). After all, how could it not with such a stacked cast?
On top of an already incredible list of names, "Poker Face" has added a couple more that will undoubtedly get prospective viewers even more excited.
Dascha Polanco and Lil Rel Howery have joined the Poker Face cast
When "Poker Face" was announced, only one person had confirmed their involvement in the case-of-the-week series, Natasha Lyonne of "Orange Is the New Black" and "Russian Doll" fame. Although, it didn't take long for other names to join her, such as Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who signed on in April of 2022, as reported by Variety. Stephanie Hsu followed suit not long after him (via Deadline), as did David Castañeda, Benjamin Bratt, and Adrien Brody. While that may sound like a stacked enough cast, as it turns out, it wasn't quite complete.
According to a Deadline report from June 3, 2022, two more names will appear on "Poker Face." First is Dascha Polanco, who joined Lyonne on both "Orange Is the New Black" and "Russian Doll," in addition to starring in such noteworthy projects as "The Irishman," "In the Heights," and "When They See Us." Accompanying her is Lil Rel Howery, bringing with him a wealth of experience in a range of productions. Horrors like "Get Out," comedies like "Free Guy," kids shows like "Craig of the Creek," and more adorn his stacked filmography.
As if the "Poker Face" cast couldn't get any better, adding Dascha Polanco and Lil Rel Howery managed to up the quality even more. To put it mildly, Rian Johnson's next TV outing can't come soon enough.